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Pam Liebman knows some listings need to remain off the MLS.
While on stage Tuesday at Inman on Tour Nashville, the Corcoran CEO said that celebrities, executives moving their offices or others might have legitimate reasons to keep their listings private. And fundamentally, she believes “I should be able to sell my house the way I want to sell it.”
But, she added, homes that need to remain off market are not typical cases — and in general listings ought to be shared.
“The bread and butter needs to be shared amongst everybody,” Liebman said.
The comments came in response to a question from moderator and Inman CEO Emily Paquette about the Clear Cooperation Policy. The policy is a National Association of Realtors rule that requires Realtors to put their listings into their NAR-affiliated MLS within a day that marketing begins. The rule has polarized the real estate industry, with prominent leaders coming out both for and against.
During her time on stage Tuesday, Liebman said Clear Cooperation doesn’t actually apply on her home turf in New York City — brokers there are members of REBNY, not NAR — but she did express support for the spirit of the rule.
“It is taking us back to the 1980s when you had to go on a corporate site and all the other brokers’ sites because people are not sharing,” Liebman said of efforts to end Clear Cooperation.
Moderator and Inman CEO Emily Paquette, left, and Corcoran CEO Pam Liebman on stage at Inman on Tour Nashville Tuesday. Credit: AJ Canaria Creative Services
Liebman also expressed skepticism about claims that off-market homes sell for more money.
“I mean some of the stats that we’re reading, it’s such nonsense,” she said. “Oh, off-market properties trade for 2.8 percent more. Garbage. Garbage, and when you look at where it’s coming from, it’s simply not true. It’s absolutely not true.”
The comment was an apparent reference to recent claims from Compass, and Compass CEO Robert Reffkin, who have said that properties that start as either an “exclusive” or “coming soon” sold for more money than those that were not pre-marketed. Reffkin — who is appearing at Inman on Tour Nashville on Wednesday — has been among the most vocal critics of Clear Cooperation and has advocated for his company’s private listing network.
Liebman later hit on a variety of other topics while on stage. Among other things, she criticized people who start teams in order to land higher spots on industry rankings, adding that she would never allow such a practice at her company.
“Build a team because it’s going to enhance your business, not just because you think it’s gonna make you better or you think it’s gonna make you look stronger in the rankings,” she said.
And she expressed optimism about agents’ ability to thrive in, essentially, any market.
“I can’t tell you how many times people say to me, ‘Oh, you must love it, Pam, prices are going up,'” she said. “I don’t care that prices are going up. It doesn’t do anything for me. I just like a market where agents can transact.”
